CFL Odds Board in Flux as Bubble Contenders Clash

by Dirty on September 2, 2011

Lost in the hype of the the CFL’s elite are a pair of wayward franchises sputtering in two of the country’s largest markets. Though it may not be the best for business in big cities, it only adds drama to the CFL betting field.

This Friday the Toronto Argonauts, four years removed from a plus-.500 season and on the verge of missing the playoffs altogether, will host the equally disenfranchised B.C. Lions.

The match up may lack the fanfare of a contender tilt elsewhere in the Canadian Football League, but it’s a reflection of the power shift in the game, and specifically the dog fight on the horizon at the bottom of the CFL betting board.

Though they each won their most recent match ups in Week 8, Toronto over Saskatchewan and B.C. over Edmonton, their desperate attempts to cling to a playoff berth are only just beginning.

With the current CFL playoff format, six of the league’s eight teams will qualify for a berth. That’s why, despite their 2-6 record, the Lions have 10/1 odds of winning the Grey Cup.

The reason the Lions face 10/1 odds, as opposed to Toronto’s 30/1, is because B.C. currently sits third in the West Division (ahead of the 1-7 Saskatchewan Roughriders). The Argos, two games behind 4-4 Hamilton, sit fourth in the East.

Not all however is lost for Toronto, thanks to the CFL’s crossover playoff berth which allows a fourth-place team in one division to steal the berth of a third-place team in the opposing conference so long as they finish with more points in the regular season standings.

That backdoor entrance to the postseason is what will make this Friday’s basement-dwelling showdown an event with utmost playoff implications.